Aerial delivery means for maps and the like



July 31, 1962 AERIAL Filed April 11, 1961 H. s. JONES 3,047,260 DELIVERY MEANS FOR MAPS AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Harold S Jones ATTORNEY H. s. JONES 3,047,260

AERIAL DELIVERY MEANS FOR MAPS AND THE LIKE July 31, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 11, 1961 INVENTOR United v States Patent i 3,047,260 AERIAL DELIVERY MEANS FOR MAPS AND THE LIKE Harold S. Jones, Framingham, Mass., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army Filed Apr. 11, 1961, Ser. No. 102,324 3 Claims. (Cl. 244-147) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), see. 266) The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates tomeans for delivering various articles such as maps, photos or similar items from flying aircraft.

More particularly the invention relates to a free-drop type of delivery of a tubular package provided with orientation/ stabilization means for maintaining the package in horizontal position as it descends into contact with the ground.

A primary object of the invention resides in providing such a device for use with low-flying aircraft in which the package is dropped from an altitude of 50 to 200 feet, for example, while dying at an indicated air speed of approximately 100 to 200 knots.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of one form of aerial delivery means in use employing two stabilization parachutes;

FIGURE 2 is an edge view of the structure of FIG- U-RE 1;

FIGUR E 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the container showing the means for releasably securing the orienting parachute in its stored position within one of the end caps of the container;

FIGURE 4 is an end view of the container;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view of the device of FIGURE 1 shortly after being ejected from the aircraft;

FIGURE 6 is a similar view of a slightly different construction;

FIGURE 7 is a detail view of the parachute connections of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 8 is a detail view of the parachute connections of FIGURE 6; and

FIGURE 9 is a side elevational view of a still further modified form of an aerial delivery means.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail and by reference numerals, the numeral 1 indicates a tubular container such as may be used for the delivery of maps, photographs and the like. This container is provided with closure caps 2 at its opposite ends which may be releasably held in closed position by means of straps or the like 3 which are passed through slots in the side walls of the caps and provided with buckles 4 for drawing and securing the caps into sealed watertight position. One of these caps is shown in detail in FIGURE 3, and is provided with an outwardly opening compartment releasably closed by a thread 5 passed through diametrically opposed openings 6 in the walls of the cap adjacent its outer end. The thread 5 serves to retain within this portion of the cap 2 a suitable parachute 7 which has been stored therein. Any suitable means may be employed for ejecting the parachute from its compartment when the thread 5 is broken. A spring-loaded pilot parachute serves this purpose well, and one example of such a parachute is disclosed in Patent No. 2,299,408 issued October 20, 1942, to I. R. C. Quilter. Obviously, however, other types of spring-loaded parachutes can be used. Connected to the confining thread 5 R 3,047,260 Patented July 31, 1962 is an extraction line 8, the opposite end of which may be connected to some part of the aircraft, such as the bomb shackle 9 carried on the underside of the aircraft.

In FIGURE 9, a single parachute 7 is employed, and is connected to the article 1 by means of a strap 10. This strap is substantially longer than the article to which it is connected, and when in use is in the form of an inverted V, as shown in FIGURE 9. The shrouds 11 of the parachute are provided with a ring 12 at their lower end, and this ring is fixed at the mid-portion of the strap 10. The excess length of the strap '10 is also positioned within the outer compartment of the cap 2 along with the shrouds of the parachute to which it is attached.

It will be apparent, therefore, that when the container or article '1 is released from the bomb shackle, its weight will cause it to descend so that the extraction line 8 will break the thread 5 to thereby release the parachute which is then ejected by means of its spring (not shown). When so released, the parachute will assume the position shown in FIGURE 9 in relation to the container 1, thereby causing it to maintain the horizontal position indicated. Thus, when the article contacts the ground, it will do so along its greatest area, thereby distributing the shock and minimizing any possible damage to its contents.

In FIGS. 1, 2, and 4 to 8, inclusive, two stabilizing parachutes 7 are used instead of the single parachute, one being packed in each end cap, so as to provide a somewhat greater control of the cargo. 'In the form shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 6 and 8, one parachute ring 12 is slidably connected to the strap 10, while the other ring '13 is fixed to the mid-portion of the strap, whereas, in the forms shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, two straps 10 are employed and one of the parachutes is slidably connected to each strap.

In the present illustration, the container will expose approximately six times more surface to the resistance of the air when falling in a horizontal position than would be the case when falling in a vertical position, thus providing a correspondingly lower .terminal velocity. Furthermore, this same ratio of about 6 to 1 will exist when the container impinges on the ground in a horizontal position. Also, a roll of photos, maps or the like stored in the container when it lands horizontally exposes six as much surface to the walls of the container, which not only spreads the impacting energies over a six-times greater surface, but also tends to prevent accordion-fashion damage to the contents due to sudden deceleration.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that each of the several arrangements of orienting parachutes serves to maintain the elongated article 1 in horizontal position as it descends and as it contacts the ground, thus serving to slow its descent and to distribute the shock of the impact throughout a much greater area than would be the case if the article were allowed to contact the ground end-first.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described what I now consider to be the preferred form of the in vention, but since various minor changes may be made in structural details without departing from the spirit of the invention, it is intended that all such changes be included within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Means for delivering an elongated article from an airplane or the like while flying at a relatively low altitude, in substantially parallel relation to the ground, comprising a pair of straps having their ends secured adjacent the ends of the article, a load orienting parachute slidably connected to one of the straps intermediate the ends of the strap and a second load-orienting parachute slidable connected to the other strap intermediate the ends of the strap, said parachutes being carried at opposite ends of the elongated article so that when the parachutes are released they will insure orientation of the article in parallel relation to the ground by initially pulling the straps in opposite directions.

2. Means for delivering an elongated article from an airplane or the like while flying at a relatively low altitude, in substantially parallel relation to the ground, comprising a strap of a length substantially greater than the length of the elongated article and having its ends secured adjacent the ends of the article, and a pair of parachutes connected to said strap, one of said parachutes being fixed to the mid-portion of the strap and the other being slidably connected to the strap to permit storing of the parachutes at opposite ends of the article While insuring orientation of the article in parallel relation to the ground when the parachutes are released.

3. Means for delivering an elongated article from an airplane or the like While flying at a relatively low altitude, in substantially parallel relation to the ground, comprising a tubular container to receive the elongated article, said container having an open-ended compartment at each of its ends, a load-orienting parachute stored in one of the container compartments, a second load-orienting parachute stored in the other container compartment, a strap assembly connecting the two parachutes to the ends of the container, the strap assembly having a length substantially greater than the length of the container and having portions of its length stored in the container compartments with the parachutes, and releasable means normally holding the parachutes and portions of the strap assembly within the container compartments, the connection between the parachutes and strap assembly being so construoted and arranged as to insure orientation of the container in parallel relation to the ground when the parachutes are released from the open-ended container compartments.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,295,590 Manson et al Sept. 15, 1942 2,314,881 Helmick Mar. 30, 1943 2,942,815 Gross et al June 28, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 302,671 Great Britain Dec. 18, 1928 829,401 Great Britain Mar. 2, 1960 

